II 

Calendar No. 43 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 953 

To authorize the conduct of certain lease sales in the outer Continental 

Shelf, to amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to modify the 

requirements for exploration, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 11, 2011 

Mr. MCCONNELL (for himself, Ms. MURKOWSKI, Mr. COATS, Mr. CORKER, 

Mr. WICKER, Mr. ALEXANDER, Mr. BARRASSO, Mr. BLUNT, Mr. PAUL, 

Mr. ENZI, Mr. ROBERTS, Mr. HELLER, Mr. ISAKSON, Mr. MORAN, Mr. 

BOOZMAN, Ms. AYOTTE, and Mr. JOHANNS) introduced the following bill; 

which was read the first time 

MAY 12, 2011 

Read the second time and placed on the calendar 

A BILL 

To authorize the conduct of certain lease sales in the outer 

Continental Shelf, to amend the Outer Continental Shelf 

Lands Act to modify the requirements for exploration, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Offshore Production 

3 and Safety Act of 2011’’. 

4 SEC. 2. OIL SPILL RESPONSE AND CONTAINMENT. 

5 (a) RESPONSE PLANS.—The Outer Continental Shelf 

6 Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) is amended by insert7 ing after section 9 the following: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 10. EXPLORATION PLANS. 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro10 vision of this Act, in the case of each exploration plan sub11 mitted after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec12 retary shall require the incorporation into the exploration 

13 plan of a third-party reviewed response plan that describes 

14 the means and timeline for containment and termination 

15 of an ongoing discharge of oil (other than a de minimis 

16 discharge, as determined by the Secretary) at the depth 

17 at which the exploration, development, or production au18 thorized under the exploration plan is to take place. 

19 ‘‘(b) TECHNOLOGICAL FEASIBILITY.—Before deter20 mining whether to approve a new exploration plan under 

21 subsection (a), the Secretary shall certify the technological 

22 feasibility of methods proposed to be used under a re23 sponse plan described in that paragraph, as demonstrated 

24 by the potential lessee through simulation, demonstration, 

25 or other means.’’. 

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1 (b) PUBLIC/PRIVATE TASK FORCE ON OIL SPILL RE2 SPONSE AND MITIGATION.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Energy, 

4 acting through the Office of Science of the Depart5 ment of Energy, shall use available funds in the 

6 Ultra-Deepwater and Unconventional Natural Gas 

7 and Other Petroleum Research Fund established 

8 under section 999H of the Energy Policy Act of 

9 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16378), and such other funds as 

10 are necessary, to conduct a study, in collaboration 

11 with the Office of Fossil Energy of the Department, 

12 on means of improving prevention methodologies and 

13 technological responses to oil spills and mitigating 

14 the effects of oil spills on natural habitat. 

15 (2) TASK FORCE.—As part of the study re16 quired under this subsection, the Secretary shall 

17 convene a task force composed of representatives of 

18 the private sector, institutions of higher education, 

19 and the National Academy of Sciences— 

20 (A) to assess the prevention methodologies 

21 and technological response to the blowout and 

22 explosion of the mobile offshore drilling unit 

23 Deepwater Horizon that occurred on April 20, 

24 2010, and resulting hydrocarbon releases into 

25 the environment; 

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1 (B) to assess the adequacy of existing 

2 technologies for prevention and responses to 

3 deep water oil spills; and 

4 (C) to recommend means of improving pre5 vention methodologies and technological re6 sponses to future oil spills (including drilling re7 lief wells) and mitigating the effects of the oil 

8 spills on natural habitat. 

9 (3) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after 

10 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

11 shall submit to Congress, the President, the Sec12 retary of Homeland Security, the Administrator of 

13 the Environmental Protection Agency, the Secretary 

14 of the Interior, and the Secretary of Defense a re15 port that describes the results of the study con16 ducted under this subsection, including a rec17 ommended standard for technological best practices 

18 for prevention of and responses to oil spills, practice 

19 drills for emergency responses, and any other rec20 ommendations. 

21 (c) STUDY ON FEDERAL RESPONSE TO OIL

22 SPILLS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of 

24 the United States shall conduct a study of existing 

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1 capabilities and legal authorities of the Federal Gov2 ernment to prevent and respond to oil spills. 

3 (2) DEEPWATER HORIZON INCIDENT.—As part 

4 of the study required under this subsection, the 

5 Comptroller General of the United States shall as6 sess the extent to which the capabilities and authori7 ties described in paragraph (1) have been fully used 

8 in the response to the blowout and explosion of the 

9 mobile offshore drilling unit Deepwater Horizon that 

10 occurred on April 20, 2010, and resulting hydro11 carbon releases into the environment. 

12 (3) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after 

13 the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 

14 General of the United States shall submit to Con15 gress a report that describes the results of the study 

16 conducted under this subsection, including any rec17 ommendations. 

18 SEC. 3. CONDUCT OF CERTAIN PROPOSED OIL AND GAS 

19 LEASE SALES. 

20 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

21 (1) ENVIRONMENT IMPACT STATEMENT FOR

22 THE 2007–2012 5-YEAR OCS PLAN.—The term ‘‘Envi23 ronmental Impact Statement for the 2007-2012 5- 

24 Year OCS Plan’’ means the Final Environmental 

25 Impact Statement for the Outer Continental Shelf 

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1 Oil and Gas Leasing Program: 2007-2012 prepared 

2 by the Secretary and dated April 2007. 

3 (2) MULTI-SALE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

4 STATEMENT.—The term ‘‘Multi-Sale Environmental 

5 Impact Statement’’ means the Environmental Im6 pact Statement for Proposed OCS Oil and Gas 

7 Lease Sales 193, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209, 

8 210, 212, 215, and 218, 213, 216, and 222 pre9 pared by the Secretary and dated September 2008. 

10 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

11 the Secretary of the Interior. 

12 (b) REQUIREMENT TO CONDUCT CERTAIN PROPOSED

13 OIL AND GAS LEASE SALES.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with section 8 

15 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 

16 U.S.C. 1337), the Secretary shall conduct— 

17 (A) as soon as practicable, but not later 

18 than 120 days, after the date of enactment of 

19 this Act, offshore oil and gas lease sale 216; 

20 (B) as soon as practicable, but not later 

21 than 240 days, after the date of enactment of 

22 this Act, offshore oil and gas lease sale 218; 

23 (C) as soon as practicable, but not later 

24 than 1 year, after the date of enactment of this 

25 Act, offshore oil and gas lease sale 220; 

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1 (D) as soon as practicable after the date of 

2 enactment of this Act, but not later than June 

3 1, 2012, offshore oil and gas lease sale 222; 

4 (E) not later than September 1, 2012, off5 shore oil and gas lease sale 209; and 

6 (F) not later than December 31, 2012, off7 shore oil and gas lease sale 212. 

8 (2) PROHIBITION ON CONFLICTS WITH MILI9 TARY OPERATIONS.—The Secretary shall not make 

10 any tract available for leasing under paragraph 

11 (1)(C) if the President, acting through the Secretary 

12 of Defense, determines that drilling activity on the 

13 tract would create an unreasonable conflict with 

14 military operations. 

15 (3) ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW.—For the pur16 poses of lease sale 193 and each of the lease sales 

17 authorized under subparagraphs (A), (B), (D), (E), 

18 and (F) of paragraph (1), the Environmental Impact 

19 Statement for the 2007–2012 5-Year OCS Plan and 

20 the Multi-Sale Environmental Impact Statement 

21 shall be considered to satisfy the requirements of the 

22 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

23 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 

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1 SEC. 4. APPROVAL OR DENIAL OF DRILLING PERMITS. 

2 (a) AMENDMENT.—Section 11 of the Outer Conti3 nental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1340) is amended by 

4 striking subsection (d) and inserting the following: 

5 ‘‘(d) DRILLING PERMITS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, by 

7 regulation, require that any lessee operating under 

8 an approved exploration plan obtain a permit— 

9 ‘‘(A) before the lessee drills a well in ac10 cordance with the plan; and 

11 ‘‘(B) before the lessee significantly modi12 fies the well design originally approved by the 

13 Secretary. 

14 ‘‘(2) SAFETY REVIEW REQUIRED.—The Sec15 retary shall not issue a permit under paragraph (1) 

16 until the date on which the Secretary determines 

17 that the proposed drilling operations meet all— 

18 ‘‘(A) critical safety system requirements 

19 (including requirements relating to blowout pre20 vention); and 

21 ‘‘(B) oil spill response and containment re22 quirements. 

23 ‘‘(3) APPROVAL OR DENIAL OF PERMIT.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara25 graph (B), not later than 30 days after the date 

26 on which the Secretary receives an application 

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1 for a permit under paragraph (1), the Secretary 

2 shall approve or deny the application. 

3 ‘‘(B) EXTENSIONS.— 

4 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 

5 may extend the deadline under subpara6 graph (A) by an additional 15 days on not 

7 more than 2 occasions, if the Secretary 

8 provides to the applicant prior written no9 tice of the delay in accordance with clause 

10 (ii). 

11 ‘‘(ii) NOTICE REQUIREMENTS.—The 

12 written notice required under clause (i) 

13 shall— 

14 ‘‘(I) be in the form of a letter 

15 from the Secretary or a designee of 

16 the Secretary; and 

17 ‘‘(II) include the names and titles 

18 of the persons processing the applica19 tion, the specific reasons for the delay, 

20 and the date on which a final decision 

21 on the application is expected. 

22 ‘‘(C) DENIAL.—If the Secretary denies an 

23 application under subparagraph (A), the Sec24 retary shall provide the applicant— 

25 ‘‘(i) written notice that includes— 

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1 ‘‘(I) a clear and comprehensive 

2 description of the reasons for denying 

3 the application; and 

4 ‘‘(II) detailed information con5 cerning any deficiencies in the appli6 cation; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) an opportunity— 

8 ‘‘(I) to address the reasons iden9 tified under clause (i)(I); and 

10 ‘‘(II) to remedy the deficiencies 

11 identified under clause (i)(II). 

12 ‘‘(D) FAILURE TO APPROVE OR DENY AP13 PLICATION.—If the Secretary has not approved 

14 or denied the application by the date that is 60 

15 days after the date on which the application 

16 was received by the Secretary, the application 

17 shall be considered to be approved.’’. 

18 (b) DEADLINE FOR CERTAIN PERMIT APPLICATIONS

19 UNDER EXISTING LEASES.— 

20 (1) DEFINITION OF COVERED APPLICATION.— 

21 In this subsection, the term ‘‘covered application’’ 

22 means an application for a permit to drill under an 

23 oil and gas lease under the Outer Continental Shelf 

24 Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) in effect on the 

25 date of enactment of this Act, that— 

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1 (A) represents a resubmission of an ap2 proved permit to drill (including an application 

3 for a permit to sidetrack) that was approved by 

4 the Secretary before May 27, 2010; and 

5 (B) is received by the Secretary after Octo6 ber 12, 2010, and before the end of the 30-day 

7 period beginning on the date of enactment of 

8 this Act. 

9 (2) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding the amend10 ment made by subsection (a), a lease under which a 

11 covered application is submitted to the Secretary of 

12 the Interior shall be considered to be in directed sus13 pension during the period beginning May 27, 2010, 

14 and ending on the date on which the Secretary 

15 issues a final decision on the application, if the Sec16 retary does not issue a final decision on the applica17 tion— 

18 (A) before the end of the 30-day period be19 ginning on the date of enactment of this Act, 

20 in the case of a covered application submitted 

21 before the date of enactment of this Act; or 

22 (B) before the end of the 30-day period be23 ginning on the date on which the application is 

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1 ered application submitted on or after the date 

2 of enactment of this Act. 

3 SEC. 5. EXTENSION OF CERTAIN OUTER CONTINENTAL 

4 SHELF LEASES. 

5 (a) DEFINITION OF COVERED LEASE.—In this sec6 tion, the term ‘‘covered lease’’ means each oil and gas 

7 lease for the Gulf of Mexico outer Continental Shelf region 

8 issued under section 8 of the Outer Continental Shelf 

9 Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1337) that— 

10 (1)(A) was not producing as of April 30, 2010; 

11 or 

12 (B) was suspended from operations, permit 

13 processing, or consideration, in accordance with the 

14 moratorium set forth in the Minerals Management 

15 Service Notice to Lessees and Operators No. 2010– 

16 N04, dated May 30, 2010, or the decision memo17 randum of the Secretary of the Interior entitled 

18 ‘‘Decision memorandum regarding the suspension of 

19 certain offshore permitting and drilling activities on 

20 the Outer Continental Shelf’’ and dated July 12, 

21 2010; and 

22 (2) by the terms of the lease, would expire on 

23 or before December 31, 2011. 

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1 (b) EXTENSION OF COVERED LEASES.—The Sec2 retary of the Interior shall extend the term of a covered 

3 lease by 1 year. 

4 (c) EFFECT ON SUSPENSIONS OF OPERATIONS OR

5 PRODUCTION.—The extension of covered leases under this 

6 section is in addition to any suspension of operations or 

7 suspension of production granted by the Minerals Manage8 ment Service or Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, 

9 Regulation and Enforcement after May 1, 2010. 

10 SEC. 6. JUDICIAL REVIEW OF AGENCY ACTIONS RELATING 

11 TO OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF ACTIVITIES 

12 IN THE GULF OF MEXICO. 

13 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

14 (1) COVERED CIVIL ACTION.—The term ‘‘cov15 ered civil action’’ means a civil action containing a 

16 claim under section 702 of title 5, United States 

17 Code, regarding ‘‘agency action’’ (as the term is 

18 used in that section) affecting a covered energy 

19 project. 

20 (2) COVERED ENERGY PROJECT.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘covered en22 ergy project’’ mean the leasing of Federal land 

23 of the outer Continental Shelf (including sub24 merged land) for the exploration, development, 

25 production, processing, or transmission of oil, 

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1 natural gas, wind, or any other source of energy 

2 in the Gulf of Mexico, including any action 

3 under such a lease. 

4 (B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘covered en5 ergy project’’ does not include any disputes be6 tween the parties to a lease regarding the obli7 gations under a lease described in subparagraph 

8 (A), including regarding any alleged breach of 

9 the lease. 

10 (b) EXCLUSIVE VENUE FOR CERTAIN CIVIL ACTIONS

11 RELATING TO COVERED ENERGY PROJECTS IN THE GULF

12 OF MEXICO.—Venue for any covered civil action shall be 

13 in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Cir14 cuit, unless there is no proper venue in any court within 

15 the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. 

16 (c) TIME LIMITATION ON FILING.—A covered civil 

17 action shall be barred unless the covered civil action is 

18 filed not later than the end of the 60-day period beginning 

19 on the date of the final Federal agency action to which 

20 the covered civil action relates. 

21 (d) EXPEDITION IN HEARING AND DETERMINING

22 THE ACTION.—The court shall endeavor to hear and de23 termine any covered civil action as expeditiously as pos24 sible. 

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1 (e) STANDARD OF REVIEW.—In any judicial review 

2 of a covered civil action— 

3 (1) administrative findings and conclusions re4 lating to the challenged Federal action or decision 

5 shall be presumed to be correct; and 

6 (2) the presumption under paragraph (1) may 

7 be rebutted only by the preponderance of the evi8 dence contained in the administrative record. 

9 (f) LIMITATION ON PROSPECTIVE RELIEF.—In a cov10 ered civil action, the court shall not grant or approve any 

11 prospective relief unless the court finds that the relief— 

12 (1) is narrowly drawn; 

13 (2) extends no further than necessary to correct 

14 the violation of a legal requirement; and 

15 (3) is the least intrusive means necessary to 

16 correct that violation. 

17 (g) LIMITATION ON ATTORNEYS’ FEES.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Sections 504 of title 5, 

19 United States Code, and 2412 of title 28, United 

20 States Code, shall not apply to a covered civil action. 

21 (2) PROHIBITION.—No party to a covered civil 

22 action shall receive payment from the Federal Gov23 ernment for attorneys’ fees, expenses, or other court 

24 costs. 

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Calendar No. 43 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 953 

A BILL 

To authorize the conduct of certain lease sales in 

poses. quirements for exploration, and for other purContinental Shelf Lands Act to modify the rethe outer Continental Shelf, to amend the Outer 

MAY 12, 2011 

Read the second time and placed on the calendar 

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